So…I’m not going to mince words on this one. This film is painful. The cast is pretty cool, but the plot is empty and this is basically just filled with corny jokes and confusion throughout. Zooey Deschanel always warms my heart, but even she could not save this film for me. Martin Freeman was great in the brilliant comedy Love Actually. Even John Malkovich appears in this…in quite a disturbing role. Mos Def and Sam Rockwell had their funny moments, but it still was not enough to bring any joy to this.
Hitchhiker’s Guide is directed by Garth Jennings, who has not had much experience in the entertainment world. I’m sure he is a great guy and he tried to make this likable, but failure took over instead.
The humorous beginning of the dolphins singing “So Long and Thanks for all the Fish” made me think this would have a Monty Python sort of flair, but sadly, it did not. However, the music on the menu screen of the DVD was cool. It reminded me of Space Mountain’s Star Tunnel. The actual guide to the galaxy was neat, and also gave me a bittersweet Disney moment. It was like a mix of the interactive video on Spaceship Earth infused with Journey Into Imagination with Figment. The newer version, that is, not the original Dreamfinder that we all miss so much.
The Vogels looked like a horrible mix of Boss Nass from Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and a rhinoceros. The robotic spider legs on John Malkovich were completely disturbing and cause me to wonder if they will haunt my dreams tonight. I understand that this film was meant to be silly, but they went over the top with the silliness factor. It borders on near absurdity. There was no true objective or motive on the part of any of the characters besides Arthur and Trillian being in love.
Sadly, I did not have a favorite scene in this film. I did enjoy the depressing comments from the spaceship’s butler robot, Marvin, voiced by the fantastic Alan Rickman. He starred in Love Actually alongside Freeman. Rickman also appeared in many other films including the Harry Potter series and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
As I’ve said in the past, when there is a film I do not enjoy, I do have to give it some credit for what they attempted, as well as for the time which all gave up in order to make this. I seriously hope the novels made more sense than this film. Please save yourself the time by never watching it. You would be far better off watching and enjoying Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
My rating: 1/5 stars.
He’s got a TOWEL!
I only ask this because you didn't mention it: were you at all familiar with the "HG2G" franchise before watching this movie?
ReplyDeleteAs someone who read the books almost religiously in college and fell in even deeper love with the original BBC radio play, I should point out that the very idea of a Disney movie based upon "Hitch-Hiker's Guide" sounds just like a joke from "Hitch-Hiker's Guide".
Hi Trish,
ReplyDeleteI know of the franchise but have never read any of them. I'm sure they are fantastic! I would be very interested in reading one someday. This film just did not do it for me.